Can I just start by saying how excited I am to start this year as a Head Coach at CoachBright? I will be starting my second year at King’s College London, studying International Relations. I’m half-Turkish, half-Indian, though I was raised in Ankara, Turkey, for my whole life. Coming from a country where students are in vicious competition with each other over the best universities, and where the richest student with the most opportunities ‘wins’, I’ve got a lot to say about educational inequality.

I volunteered with CoachBright in early 2018, because it gave me the opportunity to take action. Witnessing the students’ eagerness to learn, and how much they appreciated the help from their coaches added just that much more to my first year in London. On top of that, when I received a message from my coachee, decorated with smiley emojis and an “I couldn’t have done it without you”, I knew that volunteering and changing someone’s life was the best way to make use of the time at hand.

I know that having a coach is helpful because I too, benefitted from it. The fifteen minutes of coaching that I experienced during our initial training took me from feeling like an isolated, lonely mess with no time management skills, to someone that trusted themselves and understood the importance of tackling tasks one at a time. The routine that CoachBright brought into my life was much needed and well timed, and I will always be thankful for signing as a volunteer.

To anyone that wants to volunteer for CoachBright- from the bottom of my heart, I encourage you to take a step towards helping yourself and helping another student. You will see just how big of an impact you can have on the lives of those surrounding you. Don’t just observe. Take Action.